Pitching less than 24 hours after undergoing dental surgery, Burnett struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Orioles 9-8 on Wednesday night.

"I made an emergency call last night and had a root canal at 10:30 p.m. and then a filling at 9:00 a.m. this morning, so I was all numbed up for a while," Burnett said. "It wore off in time, luckily, but it didn't bother me at all."

Burnett (9-8), who won for the third time in four starts, said he never considered skipping his turn.

"I was going to do it this morning and still pitch," Burnett said. "That's just my tooth. I don't need that to throw."

Burnett improved to 6-1 in eight career starts against the Orioles, even without his best stuff. He allowed seven runs and seven hits, with three walks.

Alex Rios and David Eckstein both drove in two runs as Toronto won consecutive games for the first time this month.

Eckstein had two doubles and Rios added two singles for the Blue Jays, whose bullpen survived a shaky ninth inning.

"We battled back, we did a great job," Markakis said. "We just fell one run short."

Burnett retired the first 10 batters in order before Markakis singled in the fourth, stole second and scored on a two-out hit by Kevin Millar.

Toronto undid the 1-0 deficit in the bottom half when Gregg Zaun drew a bases-loaded walk, setting off the Blue Jays' biggest inning of the season. John McDonald followed with an RBI single, Eckstein and Rios drove in two runs with hits, and Vernon Wells chased left-hander Garret Olson with a run-scoring single that made it 7-1.

"You've got to find a way to get the third out and it didn't happen," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

By the time Olson (6-4) was yanked for Lance Cormier, he had given up seven runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings. Cormier got Rod Barajas to ground into a fielder's choice, ending the 12-batter inning.

Wells and Rios combined to go 4-for-4 in the fourth.

It was the second time this season the Orioles have allowed seven runs in an inning. Kansas City scored seven in the top of the sixth in a 10-7 win over Baltimore on July 3.

Adam Lind's RBI double in the fifth made it 8-1, but the Orioles fought back with a six-run sixth against Burnett. Melvin Mora hit a two-run single, Ramon Hernandez drove in a run and Adam Jones chased Burnett with a three-run homer, his fifth of the season.

"I was dominant early and it got quite embarrassing," Burnett said.

Toronto got one back in the bottom half when Wells reached on a fielder's choice, stole third and scored on Scott Rolen's single.

Wells clutched at his left knee and lower thigh after his steal, and was checked by trainer George Poulis and manager Cito Gaston. He left between innings with cramps, and Rios shifted from right to center and Brad Wilkerson replaced Wells.

Rios soon made an impact at his new position, throwing out Aubrey Huff at the plate to end the seventh. Rios fielded Luke Scott's single and threw a one-hopper to Barajas, who tagged Huff on the ankle as he crossed the plate standing up.

Trembley called Huff's failure to slide "a mental mistake."

"I thought he was safe and [home plate umpire] Jim Wolfe knows he was safe but he got called out because he doesn't slide," Trembley said.

Game notes
Rios leads Toronto with eight outfield assists. ... Markakis' fourth-inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games. He finished 3-for-5 with his 14th homer. ... Toronto RHP Dustin McGowan has a tear in his rotator cuff and will miss at least four weeks. McGowan was placed on the 15-day DL Wednesday as Toronto recalled RHP Brian Wolfe from Triple-A Syracuse. LHP Brian Tallet will come out of the bullpen to start in McGowan's place against the New York Yankees on Sunday.